Configuring alsa on a Compaq Evo N600c - alsamixer reports 'cannot open mixer'
 

Debian on a Compaq Evo N600c

According to http://icculus.org/~mongoose/Compaq-Evo_N600c.html I need to modprobe the module 'snd-maestro3'. I then restarted alsa using 'alsa reload' and tried to use alsamixer.
Sound doesn't work, so it probably isn't a problem with alsamixer but instead the configuration.

I don't know what to do now - alsa configuration has always been beyond my grasp. Has anyone here successfully configured alsa on a Compaq Evo N600c?

Partially fixed:
Alsamixer was after the device 'mixer' (/dev/mixer) of which didn't exist.

I followed the instructions at http://wiki.debian.org/snd-maestro3 and this solved the problem.

BUT

No sound comes out of my speakers (nor plugged-in headphones) even with everything de-muted and set to max. :banghead:

I've fiddles with the Fn key combos to do with muting to no avail. The two volume up/down buttons on the front change the master value as they should though.

I'll try looking in the bios for any fastboot options that might be interfering.

Other things to check:

1. Are you certain you are plugging the speakers into the correct jack? It might sound like a dumb question but I've made this mistake more than once.

2. If you are trying to play a CD/DVD, is the small audio cable connected from the drive to the sound card?

3. Have you tried to run alsaconf first? If not, run alsaconf then rerun alsamixer

I have made the mistake before of putting the headphones in the wrong jack, but not in this case. I did once wonder why I couldn't get my USB cable into the ethernet port.

I'm not trying to watch/listen to any discs (yet ;)). This is a laptop, by the way, and it has two inbuilt speakers.

Alsaconf was one of my first steps. But it has been removed from the alsa-utils package as they believe everything should 'just work' once the daemon is started . I tried installing the package alsa-tools but it doesn't have it either.